Within My Sister's Shadow
by Calypso Diangelos
Summary: *CH3 UP* With Gambit’s arrival things start to turn upside down at the institute. Someone wants Logan dead, Scott repeatedly hallucinates a woman in white, and Bobby starts to lose it. Is someone out for revenge or has Jean’s death finally taken its t
1. Reign of Tears

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Within My Sister's Shadow

By Calypso 

Summary: AU: With Gambit's arrival things start to turn upside down at the institute. Someone wants Logan dead, Rouge begins to doubt Bobby, and Scott repeatedly hallucinates a woman in white. Is someone out for revenge? Or has Jean's death finally taken its toll?

Authors Note: Post X2, slightly AU. Jean isn't the Phoenix, she's just plain dead (sorry, I never liked the character much.) The rating may up and I may end up slashing Bobby with someone depending on how this goes. You've been warned. Also, I'm actually from Westchester county so instead of using 'Westchester' I'm actually gonna go by town names. Thank you to Rookies Revenge for his technical consulting.

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Remy LeBeau is Gambit's name NOT Nightcrawler's.

Chapter 1 – Reign of tears

~ ~ ~

"O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the bottomless pit ;deliver them out of the lion's mouth, lest hell should swallow them up, lest they fall into the outer darkness; but let Thy standard-bearer, Saint Michael, bring them back into Thy holy light, which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his seed. Amen" 

The grave was not a deep one, it went only four feet into the earth. The marble headstone, newly inscribed, was still shiny and bright. As the priest began to end the service the few people who stood around the grave wondered why it was that life was so cruel. 

She had come into their lives warm and bright, joyful and caring. Now suddenly, she was gone. 

Life was known to be unfair, death was know to claim whoever it pleased to. But she… she who they had loved so much was now lost to them forever. 

Her disappearance two years ago had been hard enough, that she returned to them dead… was utterly unspeakable, and for one of their number – incomprehensible. 

Those who stood around that grave didn't number many, but each one loved her more than the next. As the sky darkened and the light drizzle that had been falling turned into a full fledged storm they slowly began drifting away until only one remained. That one started at the grave stone, long and hard, memorizing not just it, but the face of the woman it commemorated. 

Gentle fingers ran across the words on the head stone, and with one sad look, bid it goodbye. 

__

Yuriko Ojama

May 1st 1975 – 2002

Beloved Sister

We will remember you forever.

~ ~ ~

Remy LeBeau hated the rain, then again, he hated a lot of things. Quietly, he sneezed before burying his face into the upturned collar on his trench coat. Why did it have to be New York? There were lots of places in the world he didn't like - New York was pretty close to the top of that list. Sighing with boredom, he looked around the quiet street, noticing a bookstore, a café, and a drugstore. None of it looked exciting.

  
Remy sighed, shuffling the deck of cards in his hands. Maybe a cup of coffee wouldn't hurt… with that in mind he began to cross the street. As he stepped off the curb he suddenly saw a flash of blue in the corner of his eye. By the time he registered the screech of tires it was already too late. _Oh Shit. _Was all that ran through his mind as he bounced off the hood of the car.

  
"What the hell have you done!?" Colossus' high pitched yell was not pleasant to Kitty's ears as she hit the breaks. _Geez_, she thought, _how is it possible for a guy to screech that high?_

Quickly, Kitty ran out of the car, having to remind herself not to go through the door. "Sir? Are you ok?" _Of course he's not ok you nitwit_, she berated herself, _you just hit him with a car_. To her surprise, the man was not out cold. Suddenly he grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him. Shocked, Kitty pulled back and made his hand go _through_ her arm. Seeing that, his eyes widened.

"No hospital...." His speaking was labored and Kitty barely heard him. "I... mutant." Kitty understood immediately, this man probably had a fear of humans – she personally dreaded human doctors. Looking up, she saw that Colossus had already heard. Without a word he picked the man up and gently deposited him in the backseat of the car. Those who had gathered around the accident protested loudly. Thinking quickly Kitty put on her most innocent look. "Please, he's my brother! We were coming here to meet him… I have to get him to a hospital!!!" By the end of her little speech she was almost in tears. Softening, the people started to dissipate. Quickly she returned to the car.

"I knew I should've never given you driving lessons." Colossus muttered under his breath. 

To Kitty he said only "Go." As the two drove away they both prayed that it wouldn't be too late once they reached the institute and hopefully the new Doctor, Hank McCoy, would be able to do something about it. 

~ ~ ~

Spectre was tired. Unspeakably, bone wearied tired. She had slipped into Xavier's institute for the gifted to get out of the rain and to get some much needed nourishment. She had been on the road for days, and though she had been able to steal what she needed thanks to her mutation, it hadn't been comfortable.

Despite the fact that she was invisible, Spectre had stayed away from the children at the school (not knowing that they too were mutants,) by hiding in an occupied bedroom on the top floor of the house. Half an hour ago she had gone to the kitchen and stolen some dinner that had been left over from whatever the staff had been eating. After grabbing and heating it, she had run back wolfing the food down with gusto as soon as she'd arrived in the room, praying that no one had seen the food floating up the stairs. 

Finished, she now eyed the bed and weighed out her choices in her head. The bed looked really comfortable, and really clean. Spectre liked the idea of sleeping somewhere that wasn't a fleabag motel. On the other hand if she got caught…

To tired to think, Spectre gave in to her desire for rest. Besides, who would come up here this late at night anyway?

Taking off her shoes, sweatshirt, and Khaki's Spectre carefully folded them and lay down in her oversized tee. Pulling the blankets up over her shoulders, she let out a contented sigh. _Finally,_ she thought, _a decent nights rest._ And in less then a minute she was out like a light.

~ ~ ~

Swish, "Damn." Lady Deathstriker unsheathed her claws and without a word launched towards him. Following suit, Wolverine did exactly as she did, quickly entering into battle with her. Stop! A voice inside his head screamed. This isn't her, it's that fucking serum. Not listening to that voice, he fought back, hard and angry. Swiping her across the face. 

Save her, _that voice screamed, _she's just like you, she can help you… you wouldn't have to be alone._ Growling, Wolverine shoved Logan aside. _NO _He knew that he should try and get through to her, but if he stopped for a moment – she'd probably kill him. She struck a searing blow to his head and for one moment the world went white. _

Save her,_ that voice said again,_ maybe she knows something about your past. _Once again, he ignored it. _I can't _he argued back, _you know I can't. _Their fighting became more furious, and for long moments his thoughts were only about survival. And then he saw it. _

Don't do it! _The voice whispered, don't! _I have to. _He spoke back, and with one vicious shove, she was dead._

With a sharp intake of breath, Wolverine awoke. Once more in a cold sweat. This wasn't the first time he'd had this dream, always it was the same. That voice – that voice telling him he shouldn't have killed her. Wolverine had taken lives before, and most of the time he didn't give a rat's ass. But her… whatever her name was. She was probably just like him. She probably wanted to free – and to find her past. 

Pushing the nightmare and the unpleasant thoughts aside, Logan scratched his neck, suddenly he stopped. 

Sniffing the air, he realized that what he smelled was blood. His blood. Looking down he saw that the sheets – and his shirt, were bloody. For a few minutes he puzzled over this, then he noticed the very small, very round hole in his undershirt.

"Damn." He said as the thought finally hit him. Sometime during the night, as he had been asleep, someone had shot him in the chest.

Someone wanted him dead.

~ ~ ~

Scott glared at his bedside clock. 1:00 am the red letters told him, and he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep yet. It was this room, there was just too much of Jean in it. He couldn't bring himself to move her stuff into storage, and yet… having it there meant that he never got any sleep.

Sighing he got up and slipped out of the room. For the fifth time that week he tiptoed down the hallway and up the stairs. There were three rooms up here that were never used. One had no bed, one was specifically designed for handicapped children, and the last was a normal bedroom.

It was the third one that Scott stumbled into. With a groan, he lowered himself into bed, never bothering to turn on the lights. As he drifted off to sleep, he suddenly realized that he had seen a pair of shoes as he walked in. Too tired to think about it, he dismissed the thought and fell into a deep slumber, never noticing that next to him the blankets seemed to be falling and rising at even intervals on their own accord. Almost, as if they were breathing.

~ end chapter 1

Well? What's the verdict? Do I continue or stop here?


	2. Breaking in and Breaking Out

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This has been edited (mainly just the ending – there's a reason for that)… I posted it on Friday, but by the lack of reviews it either sucked or no one's read it yet….

After a funeral, a shooting, and a car accident all in the first chapter, I thought you guys might enjoy something a little lighter in tone. So, on that note here is the slightly more amusing second chapter.

Chapter 2 – Breaking in and breaking out

"Oww…" Bobby had imagined being waken up in the middle of the night by Rogue before. However, it was safe to say that in none of these scenarios had he involved Colossus, Kitty, or the floor of his bedroom being quite this hard. "What was that for?" Getting up from the floor, Bobby found himself encircled by his three best friends with Colossus barring the way between him and his warm comfy bed.

"Sorry sugar, but you ain't getting back to bed till we pay a little visit to the med lab." The words 'med-lab' peaked Bobby's interest even through the haze of sleep that surrounded him. The students usually weren't allowed to go down there, and they certainly weren't allowed to break in during the middle of the night. Bobby's eyes lit up briefly at the prospect of a challenge and though he quickly reverted his face back into an expression of bored sleepiness Rogue had caught it. Winking at Kitty she walked around Bobby till she stood behind him. 

"So how about it Iceman? I'd hate to leave two ladies in distress to fend for themselves." Colossus spoke to Bobby calmly and seriously, but even the darkness couldn't hide the smile which belied his serious pronouncements. From her corner Kitty began to pout and used her best Puppy dog eyes. Behind Bobby, Rogue began walking her gloved fingers down his spine. 

"Please?" Even though he couldn't see it, Bobby knew that she too had her best little lost puppy expression on. For a moment refusal was on the tip of his tongue. However, realizing that such an effort would be futile he quickly gave in. 

"Alright, I'm in, but may I at least ask why I'm signing myself up for a months worth of detention?" Before he'd even finished asking the question, his three friends were already in action.

"Get dressed we still have to meet Jubes and Livewire downstairs. Colossus and I will explain the rest on the way.' Grabbing Rogue, Kitty went out the door, leaving Bobby to get changed and Colossus to supervise. As Rouge exited the room after her, she noticed a cheeky grin on Bobby's face, one that she hadn't seen since they had fled Bobby's house in Boston weeks ago.

Back in the bedroom the two mutant boys blinked at each other, simultaneously the same question reached their lips. "Who's Livewire?"

~ ~ ~

Livewire was the newest addition to mutant high. So named for her ability to short circuit any electrical system, via her mutation. At thirteen years old, she could already claim a year's (former) membership in a group that dealt in high stakes bank robberies. From the time she had been eleven, she had been occupying herself by facilitating armed robberies. Six months ago, that all ended when one of her 'foster parent's' accidentally killed someone during a heist. For five months afterwards, she had been on the run. 

Two weeks ago, she had seen Ororo Munroe on the news and had decided to seek out Xavier's institute. Which was how she ended up creeping down a dark hallway with Jubilee at the three O'clock in the Morning. "Remind me why I'm doing this again?" Livewire liked Xavier's Institute. It had offered her the closest thing to a normal life she had ever had; and while she considered Jubes to be one of her closest and best friends, she didn't relish the idea of taking part in a scheme that could potentially get her kicked out.

"Because I owe Kitty a favor and you need to keep them skills of yours sharp." Jubilee smiled broadly, and Livewire couldn't help grinning back.

"Why does she want to go down there anyway? And what does she need us for? Can't she just go through the doors or something?" Livewire, like Bobby, had not yet been privy to the plan concocted by Jubes, Kitty, and Rouge, and as of yet was still relatively in the dark. 

"Well, Kitty hit this mutant in Briarcliff today when Colossus was teaching her how to drive. The two of them brought him back here to the mansion but Dr. McCoy wouldn't let them see him. Kitty feels really bad and wants to apologize."

"At 3:00 AM?" Livewire broke in.

"Well he's been out cold since four in the afternoon." Jubilee answered logically. "Anyway, we need you to disable the security cameras – make it look like a power outage or something, I'll help – Colossus to open the doors once the powers out, and Bobby in case something goes wrong and we start a fire or something." When Jubilee finished, Livewire looked perplexed.

"So what are Kit and Rogue gonna do?" She asked

Jubilee grinned cheekily and would have answered had she not heard a man's voice coming from the doorway they were about to pass. Immediately the two froze. It took only a few seconds for them to realize the man was muttering in his sleep. 

"I thought you said this hallway was unoccupied?!" Livewire whispered accusingly.

"It is! There are seven storage rooms, two unoccupied guestrooms, and an uninhabitable bedroom." Suddenly, Jubilee noticed that the door to they were about to pass was ajar, unable to keep a hold on her curiosity, she stepped forward and peeked in.

From her stand point, Jubilee saw only three things: tousled brown hair, a man's naked back and two pale, slim feminine arms, sticking out from beneath the blanket. Whirling back around, she grabbed Livewire and made a sprint for the stairs, eager to share this new bit of gossip with her friends.

~ ~ ~

Spectre, who was generally a light sleeper was awakened by the sound of fading footsteps. Disconcerted, she mentally ground to a halt as she realized that this wasn't her bed. For a moment she was puzzled, staring up at the canopy over her head, she tried to remember what had happened and where she was. Once she had, she noticed the _other _thing that was wrong.

She was comfortable, yes, and very warm to. Too warm. With a jolt, she realized that she was visible and that she wasn't in bed alone. _Visible? Why am I visible?_ The sleepy part of her brain asked. _Because he's touching you nitwit. He's probably a mutant. _The rational part of her brain answered. Whenever a mutant touched her, it was very rare that Spectre was able to remain invisible as she did most of the time.

Gulping, Spectre took three deep breaths before she was calm enough to asses the situation. From his calm and even breathing, she could tell that the man next to her was asleep. In all likelihood this was his room and he had stumbled in here too tired to notice her clothing on the floor. Now, at whatever hour of night it was, he had somehow managed in his sleep to pin her to the bed with one strong arm around her waist and his head calmly resting on one of her shoulders. _He's pretty damned cute, _the sleepy part of her said, _but why the heck is he wearing sunglasses in bed?_ Breaking this train of thought, Spectre tried to concentrate on the matter at hand: How to get out, and how to do it without being seen.

Spectre wanted to simply _lift _this man's arm off of her, and then slip her shoulder out from under his head; unfortunately, doing this presented a very good chance of waking him up. Looking toward the edge of the bed, Spectre decided that the best thing to do would be to simply slide her entire body away from him. Thinking this she started inching carefully away from him, using her free hand to ease his head onto the pillows and off of her body. As she continued to inch away, she realized at the last minute that the edge of the bed wasn't wide enough to hold her as she tumbled onto the floor.

__

That woke Scott up. Cursing silently, Spectre willed herself back to invisibility, shoved her feet into her boots, grabbed her clothing, and rolled under the bed. She was now invisible, but until she was wearing them, her cloths wouldn't be. In the cramped space, Spectre attempted to dress as silently as possible. A feat which was, quite honestly, 'difficult' at best.

"Jean?" The first word out of Scott's mouth was whispered, for a few seconds he wondered what had caused him to awaken. Realizing that he was alone in bed, and remembering that Jean was gone for good, Scott stood up and walked across the room. The clock on the bedside table read 3:30 am. Groaning, Scott began pacing rather than going back to bed. The question of why he had woken up, still nagging at his mind. And then, he saw something that hadn't been in the room before.

A plate, a fork, and dainty looking little knife. _Did the one of the kids come up here?_ He asked himself. Suddenly on alert he quickly surveyed the room.

From under the bed Spectre, now fully dressed, wondered how she was going to get out of here. Even if he couldn't _see_ her, chances were he'd _hear_ her. Desperately, she summoned her strength and tried to think of something… and then she remembered. It was a trick she'd learned years ago, from a fellow Mutant who was a telekinetic. A mutant who had pretty much taught her how to control _most_ of her mutation. Taking a deep breath, she tried it, hoping that the years hadn't dulled her skill.

"Hello." Whirling around, Scott saw a pale woman with long black hair standing by the window in a white night gown. Confused he shook his head, but when he looked up, she was still there. 

"Who are you?" The woman didn't answer but began backing away from him and, coincidentally, away from the door. Slowly, he followed her. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Seeing that he was distracted, Spectre darted out from under the bed and quickly out of the door, letting the illusion she had created drop the moment she reached the staircase, sweating from the execration of having maintained it as long as she had. 

"Who are you?" Back in the bedroom, Scott repeated the question again, but the woman only stepped quietly back into the shadows – and into nothingness. In another two steps, Scott was certain that he was alone again. Left with only with the company of shadows, and the sounds of the gathering dawn. 

* * *

"You're sure you don't know who this might be?" The Professor asked again, "Think Logan."

"Professor, I've pissed off a lot of people in the last 15 years, but I can guarantee that most of them are either dead or in no position to try something like this." For the past half-hour, Logan and the professor had been sitting in the latter's bedroom discussing what had happened earlier that night. After waking up, Logan had changed out of his bloody clothing and immediately come here. Deciding that if there was someone in the mansion waving a gun around, the professor needed to know.

When he had gotten here, the professor had already been awake, and after Logan filled him in on the details the two had began to talk in earnest. So far they had decided that whoever did this didn't know Logan that well, (if they knew what his mutation was they wouldn't have shot him,) and that this was too be kept quiet from the children. 

Professor Xavier appreciated Logan's coming to him, knowing that Wolverine was a very private man who liked to handle things on his own. It showed just how much he had changed that he had come down here thinking of the well being of the others in the house.

"Logan – ." The door creaked open, before he could continue, and Storm's head peeked through.

"Charles?" Seeing that he was awake, Storm stepped into the room, nodded politely at Logan and then turned back to the professor. "I think there's something downstairs you should see.

* * *

"Well Rogue, you're on." The six teenagers, in the med lab, were gathered around Gambit lying in the sick bed. So far, everything had gone according to plan, they had broken in, Bobby hadn't had to stop any fires, and best of all, they hadn't been caught.

Looking at her friends, Rogue nodded tensely, and then looked at the stranger intently. "You don't have to do this." The words came from Kitty, soft and reassuring. Rogue almost took her up on that offer. Dispite everything a large part of her still feared to touch people. She hadn't learned to control her powers, but she had a slight idea of how much and what type of touching did the least amount of damage. Rogue was afraid to do this, but she was even more afraid of giving in to fear.

"I want to. We need to know if he's a mutant or not." Taking a deep breath, Rogue pulled her hair back, leaned down, and kissed Gambit quickly on the cheek before drawing back. For a second, she had to steady herself as she tried to figure out what sort of power she had just absorbed. In another moment, she had it. "Fire, he makes things explode."

The five teenagers around her smiled, so Kitty _had _done the right thing bringing him here; with the way things were if they had brought him to a hospital he might have been refused treatment because he was a mutent. "Now it's my turn." Kitty was about to shake Gambit awake, but he suddenly jerked awake on his own - violently. Reaching out, he instinctively grabbed the first thing he touched – Rogue's gloved hand.

"Where am I?" Looking around, it took Remy a minute to realize that the six people around him were young – and that they weren't armed… and that four of them were very, very, lovely.

"You're safe suga', but I think you're cutt'n off the circulation to my hand." Turning in the direction of the southern drawl, Remy saw Rouge for the first time, next to her, Kitty started to fidgit.

"I'm awfully sorry about this afternoon, I was just learning to drive… I didn't mean to hit you." With a wave of his hand, Gambit dismissed her apology.

" 's ok mon aime. Ta wake up to four beautiful angel's like you? I think it was most c'rtainly worth it." Smiling, Gambit stifled a yawn. 

"We should probably let him sleep," Colossus broke in, "getting hit by a car is probably tiring." And indeed, Gambit was indeed already drifting away again. Beckoning for the others to follow, Colossus took point and led them out into the hallway. Originally their plan had been to get in and get out as fast as possible, now however after such a short meeting with the new mutant their plan changed, after all – how often would they get to come down here?

Silently, they agreed to split up, letting their more reckless side take over. Rouge and Jubes went towards the danger room, Kitty and Livewire to take a closer look at the med lab, and Bobby and Colossus headed for the garage – the _other_ garage.

After rounding the first corner however, Kitty and Livewire ground to a halt. There in front of them sat the professor with Storm and Logan on either side. One thought ran through their collective minds. _Shit. Busted._

End chapter 2 

AN – I have to say that working with this many characters at once is new for me. It's only one plot but with more than ten main characters and two original characters writing in this fandom is fairly daunting – so to my fellow fanfiction.net xmen writers – I applaud you.

Also, there's a little button that says go at the bottom of this screen PRESS IT and fill out the little form that comes up if you want the next chapter.

Toodles, 

Calypso (Toodles? What the heck am I saying?)


	3. Mindbender

AN: Well, that was disappointing – either you all hated the last chapter on no one read it. Guess I should stay away from humor in the future. Tom, Heidi, Burnout, Annise, and Taz – I love you all, thanks for reading. (also thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter.

Chapter 3 - Mindbender

The moon had already set by the time Spectre made it to the Westchester County airport. Four days ago, she had stowed what little money and few belongings she had brought with her from her Hawaiian home in a locker at the American Airlines terminal. Today was the day she would need them.

Her escape from Xavier's school for the gifted had been relatively smooth and other than almost encountering a rough looking man on the second floor, she had met no one on her way out. Sighing as she neared the terminal where the locker was, Spectre remembered that she would need to be visible for this task since it wouldn't do for the security camera's to catch her duffel bag moving out of the locker and floating away on it's own.

Quickly she walked into the bathroom, waiting until she was alone to get into a stall and lock the door behind her. Calming herself, she attempted to will herself back to visibility. However long she had maintained physical contact with that man she'd awoken in bed with, it had been log enough so that the energy she'd drained off of him was still flowing inside of her.

The energy needed to move Spectre between visibility and invisibility wasn't immense, but for some reason her mutation required her to obtain that energy from others via touch. When she took the energy from a mutant, the person never noticed, unfortunately, Mutant energy caused Spetre to jump from visibility to invisibility or vice versa immediately, not allowing her to control it. A human on the other hand usually suffered some form of lightheadedness, weariness, or hunger after her touch, however a human's energy was easy for Spectre to control.

As Spectre removed her belongings from the Airport locker she contemplated checking into an actual hotel and doing things in a more comfortable atmosphere. Unfortunately, reality kicked in and she realized that it wouldn't be worth the risk or the amount of time it would take. Grabbing the duffel bag, she made for the airport bathroom, this time to change, was up, and do what she could with the few cosmetics she had.

~ ~ ~ 

Bobby and Colossus walked quiet through the garage below ground level. As they meandered around equipment and tools the two made idle chatter and the occasional joke at the others expense. At last, the two came upon the object of their journey – the jet.

"Man, you should've been there. It was like the whole damn world was falling apart and suddenly there was magneto – pulling the whole thing back together." Bobby used his hands to emphasize his words as he spoke excitedly about the adventure he had been a part of. Silently, Colossus noted that his was the first time Bobby had spoken about any part of his misadventure.

"Must've really been something – meanwhile I was hiding out at Roosevelt Park trying to keep everybody in the woods, survive Kitty's cooking, and not go deaf listening to Jubilee and Banshee lady trying to sing some of the kids to sleep." Colossus spoke with a mockingly reproachful tone. Holding one hand dramatically over his heart to indicate how much he'd suffered. Laughing, Bobby playfully swatted at his head – regretting it when his flesh made contact with organic steel.

"Owww!" rotating his wrist, Bobby tried to ignore the pain as he went on. "Well at least you weren't there when Professor Grey… saved us." Still unable to deal with it completely Bobby was unable to say the word 'died' changing what he had intended to say at the last minute.

Immediately sympathetic, Colossus became more serious. "Yeah, must've been tough." For a moment the two stood together in a dour silence. Wanting to lift the mood, Bobby finally cracked a grin.

"You now what the worst thing was?"

"What?" Colossus asked.

"When the professor and Scott nearly kissed." Colossus' eyes got wide and Bobby burst into gales of laughter as he recounted the moment to his friend in the most humorous light possible. 

Unfortunately, the two forgot themselves and when the doors slid open, both could only stare with wide eyes like two deer caught in headlights.

"Are my ears burning?" Was the only question the professor asked.

~ ~ ~

Rogue and Livewire weren't very well aquatinted. Despite the fact that both were close friends with Jubes they had never been in a situation where they had been at leisure to get to know each other better.

Since neither girl wanted to talk about her past, both spoke about the school, their friends and other neutral subjects that interested teenage girls. As the two came ever closer to the Danger Room, the conversation topic fell to Bobby.

"He's awfully cute." Stated Livewire with an impish grin. "And he sure does seem sweet." 

"Rogue giggled slightly, "He is. On Valentines Day he made me a bouquet of flowers made from ice since he didn't have any money to buy real ones. You should've seen the look on his face when he realized that they'd ruined my chem. notes when they melted… he felt so bad."

"Awww…." Livewire smiled broadly at Rogue, letting the conversation drop as the two entered the danger room. 'Whoa...' Neither of them had been here before and in the darkness it was like a giant metal cavern. Dark and immense as the light coming between the door cracks played strangely upon the wall. Smiling at each other the two sat down upon the floor and returned to their conversation about bobby.

"Must be awfully nice to have a boyfriend like that.' Remarked Livewire in an offhanded (if wistful) tone. When Rogue's reply did not come immediately, the girl peered closer at her new friend's face. "Isn't it?" 

'It is sorta nice," Rogue said, " 'cept…'cept he's been kinda distant lately. Ever since… ever since Boston." Rogue looked down, and was startled when Livewire took one of her gloved hands and gave it a squeeze. Suddenly, the floodgates opened and Rogue found herself wanting to let it all out. 

"The way they – his parents - spoke to him… it was awful. Even my foster family wasn't that bad. It wasn't anger or hatred in them… it was disgust and pity. Like he was some stray dog they'd taken in and he'd done something bad so now they had to put him out." Rogue shivered a little "That was pretty bad, but then John… Pyro had to go and run off with Magneto. Sure they gave each other a hard time, but they sure were good friends.

"And if that wasn't bad enough, Professor Grey had to go and get herself Killed!" Rogues tone was angry now – as if she blamed Jean for what had happened. 'Bobby can't take all that and he's gotten worse and worse insteada better and better. I just – ."

Rogue was cut off by the sudden appearance of a jungle around her, from the tress nearby, a giant boa emerged. Leaping to her feet she realized that Livewire was already up when she heard the younger girl's scream. Without warning an electric surge charged passed her only to bounce off of what should've been a holographic tree. 

"I can't turn it off!" Came the wildly desperate cry of a very frightened Livewire. 

Frightened, the two came closer together, backing away from the snake and the soldiers that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Slowly, their opponents inched closer and just as Rogue thought Livewire was about to pass out, it all vanished.

The door slid open, and from the darkness came Logan's amused voice. "And that, Ladies, is why you should never come down here unprepared."

~ ~ ~

As dawn broke, Spectre found herself in the sitting room of wealthy Justin Santiago, waiting for him to arise from what had no doubt been a night of drunken revelry. Lying sprawled across the red velvet upholstery on a baroque styled divan, she had to admit that the man had good taste. The entire room was decorated with red and silver and Spectre realized that overtime Justin, or Mindbender as she had always known him, had developed a sense of style.

It had been years since the two met – which was why she was both suspicious and cautious. Knowing that Justin's habits probably hadn't allowed him into bed until long after midnight, she allowed herself to doze off slightly.

Spectre was surprised when seven AM rolled by and the door to the adjacent bedroom opened. Sitting up, Specter crossed her legs and smoothed her hair leaning back as a tall slim man of about six foot one with light brown hair walked into the room. Wearing a long black robe, Justin shuffled quietly into the room and poured himself a stiff Brandy. 

"Hey Mindbender, isn't it a little early for you to be drinking that?" Whirling around Justin realized that he wasn't in the room alone. His head throbbed slightly from the hangover he was already starting to feel, and that throbbing was probably what had stopped him from noticing another presence in the room.

The sitting room was dark thanks to heavy red velvet curtain's over every window and a total lack of electrical lighting. The only illumination came from candles laid strategically around the room. "Over here." Spectre leaned forward, elbows resting on her legs, her long, straight, black hair framing her pale face in startling contrast. Spectre knew that with her pale skin, red lipstick, black hair, and black dress she closely resembled a vampire – especially in the firelight. "Miss me?"

Justin put on a half smile when he saw her, surprised that she'd been able to get in completely undetected, silently he walked toward her with slow deliberate movements. When he stood in front of her, he gently took a lock of hair in his hand and ran it through his fingers. "It's been a long time." 

Leaning back into the divan, Spectre cut straight to business. "Why did you want to see me?" 

Instead of answering, Justin stepped back and took a long drink out of his Brandy glass, a movement calculated to perturb Spectre. Instead of acting annoyed however, she only leaned her head on her hand and yawned. Amused, Justin let out a dry laugh.

"I asked you to come here because of Yuriko's death." Immediately, the lines in Spectre's face tensed. "I cared about her a lot…" His voice drifted off as Spectre's face tightened in anger.

"Cut the crap Mindbender, you didn't call me here just to express your sympathies. What the hell are you after." _Feeling_ the sudden shift in her demeanor. Justin reinforced his mental barriers against her rage. He wasn't an angel, most of his millions had come from one illegal source or another – but he did have a concept of honor, twisted though it was. Yuriko – (or lady DeathStriker as the X-men knew her) - was someone to whom he felt he owed such a debt of honor.

"I found out who killed her." Immediately Spectre's emotions shifted to a different kind of anger. 

"Who?" In response to Spectre's urgent question, Justin pulled out dossier from a nearby desk and handed it to her. As she examined it, Mindbender tried to get a closer reading on her thoughts and was astonished to find that her mental shields had completely shut him out. _That can't be right,_ he thought, _I taught her how to build those mental shields… I should be able to get through them. _Shrugging it off, Justin went on.

"I'd actually expected you here sooner, but - ." Giving him a glance, Specter cut him off.

"I did get here sooner, I've been scouting out the area and making sure it was safe for me to show." For a second, Justin looked confused. _That's impossible,_ he thought, _I've had every major airport and hotel on the lookout for her how did she… _and suddenly it occurred to him that she had used the very tricks he'd taught her against him. _Guess Spectre grew up after all._ For the first time, Justin remembered that she was only seven years younger then him. Ten years ago, that had seemed like a lot when he'd taught thirteen year old Spectre how to take control of her mutation. Now, at twenty-three, Spectre wasn't so little – or so trusting. Suddenly realizing that she was staring at him, Justin flushed as he realized she was waiting for him to continue.

"As I said, you weren't here. So I made the hit myself. That man," he pointed at the Dossier, "is now dead – I took care of him around midnight last night. One bullet, close range."

Raising an eyebrow, Spectre gave Justin one incredulous look before breaking into a loud, mocking laugh. 

End Chapter 3

Reviews are welcome as always.

BTW – if you want to see what these characters look like go to w w w_g e o c i t e s _ c o m /calliesisle/withinm_ h t m (replace the _ with a ( . ) I didn't type it in with the dot because ff.net removes URL's from uploads now. ) Anyway go have a look to see how I'm picturing these characters.


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